Calais Campbell And A New Contract With Arizona Cardinals Seem Like Perfect Fit

by Jess Root on Jan 4, 2012 8:01 AM MST in NFL Offseason/Free Agency

Aside from the decision on Levi Brown and his current contract, the number one free agent decision the Arizona Cardinals have is to get Calais Campbell re-signed. The defensive lineman was a beast this past season with sacks, tackles and blocked field goals. He disrupted opposing teams relentlessly.

Fans want him back, and it seems that the team does. What does Campbell think?

SB Nation Arizona spoke with him on the matter and seemingly was the only one to do so this week.

"I'm not sure how close we are. I feel like we're communicating, trying to get something worked out," Campbell said. "I feel like we'll figure something out though. This is a great organization and I love being a Cardinal so, can't beat that."

What about the head coach?

Ken Whisenhunt wants him back. "He had a great year for us and we're looking forward to having many more years with Calais to come" he told the media.

So the team wants him and he wants to be back. Sounds like a no-brainer.

The truth is, the public discussion of the topic is vaguely familiar to the offseason and preseason. The team said that they wanted Larry Fitzgerald back. He said he wanted to be back. They said that talks were progressing.

Hopefully the ending is the same as with Fitz (although hopefully not that much money) and Campbell will be a Cardinal for a long time.

If anything else, we know that he is almost certainly going to be back for at least another season. If no long-term deal is struck in time, the team will likely use the franchise tag on him, which would reportedly pay him about $10.6 million for next season.

If it comes to that and no deal is ever agreed upon, it will definitely be disappointing.

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Comments

Pay the man!

Insert epic quote here: "I got nothin'"

by The_Knife on Jan 4, 2012 10:50 AM MST reply actions

Pay the man!

Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan
Phoenix Suns, Arizona Diamondbacks, Phoenix Coyotes, Arizona Rattlers fan
[I have always lived in Arizona, dad is from Chicago].

Leading the NFL in swagtangibles

by JoeCB1991 on Jan 4, 2012 11:04 AM MST reply actions

Pay the man!

by tallfreak on Jan 4, 2012 11:16 AM MST reply actions

Pay me

I’ll pay the man!

Just a guy, because I was born that way.

by cdeveau on Jan 4, 2012 11:39 AM MST reply actions

^ What these guys said

PAY THE MAN!

by Jesse Reynolds on Jan 4, 2012 12:59 PM MST reply actions

Pay the Man!

by cgcardzfan on Jan 4, 2012 2:15 PM MST via mobile reply actions

Pay the man! If...

…he’s not demanding elite $, because he’s not that (yet). I’m all for keeping good players, but not at the expense of having to settle for scrubs at other positions because you’re overpaying a few (see: Redskins, Washington).

Best I can tell, the top 10 DE salary averages range from $14 mil (Peppers) to $9 mil (M Williams), with Justin Smith of SF averaging $7.5 mil. Dockett averages $9.33 mil on his deal (although he’s technically labelled a DT). Given that, I think a 3-4 year deal worth about $8.5-$9 mil/yr sounds about right – that would put him near top-10 at his position.

by CardsFan1976 on Jan 4, 2012 6:10 PM MST reply actions

Mike Bidwill can make a huge step in public relations by getting this deal done.

Let Campbell slip away and the Bidwill reputation for stinginess will justifiably linger on. Having to use the franchise tag would be a bit disconcerting. Seems like all parties want it to happen. Shouldn’t be that hard to put it together.

by hadrarius on Jan 4, 2012 8:00 PM MST reply actions